A few days ago a little frog showed up in my house on my window seat sunning himself next to my plants! I am hoping this is a sign that spring is on its way. We escorted our little friend to our vegetable garden where we hope he will keep warm under the leaves. What a fun surprise! Nature tends to be full of surprises and today I am going to share some of them with you. |
Here are some surprising new facts:
- There are trillions of organisms (known collectively as microbiota) that live all over and within your body that have a profound influence on your health.
- The collective genetic material of these microbes is referred to as the microbiome.
- There are 9 times more microbes in your body that your own cells! This means that 90% of your cells are not you!
- New evidence is pointing to the idea that you are a super organism, comprised of many different organisms living together symbiotically.
- It appears that these microbes actually make really important stuff such as neurotransmitters, hormones and vitamins--suggesting that your ability to experience vibrant health, and even be relaxed and happy, depends in a large part on the health of your microbial community--especially those living in your gut.
I believe that your body has the capability of keeping your microbial population in a healthy balance through a properly functioning immune response.
I am not suggesting that you don't clean. It is the chemical nature of the products you use that is mostly an issue--and the impact these chemicals are having on your microbial ecosystem. We can see an example of this happening in nature--consider the bees. It is believed that an agricultural product, neonicotinoid, is at the root of it. Some say the collapse is caused by a fungus--but fungus would not take hold if immunity hadn't been compromised by something.
It is postulated that all of the auto-immune conditions may arise from an unhealthy gut, along with food sensitivities and inflammation which leads to heart disease. How many of you have low vitamin D levels? Blood sugar issues? Hormone imbalances? All may be related to the heath of the gut. Without a healthy gut we can't adequately get rid of the toxins that we are being inundated with on a daily basis.
Taking an antibiotic is like dropping an atomic bomb into the rainforest of your gut--having devastating effects on your delicate inner ecosystem. OK, so we can just take probiotics for this, right? While probiotics may be helpful, those few strains of microbes are a drop in the bucket of the diversity that exists within your inner garden, which is teaming with life.
When you kill the bad guys, you are also killing your friends!
Have you heard about antibiotic resistant bacteria? The bacteria that we are attacking with antibiotic drugs are changing and adapting to what they see as a threat to their survival. They are building biofilms that protect them from our drugs. These are like shells that are built around their colonies so that they can multiply within a shielded area and then break out of their shell in greater numbers in an attempt to overwhelm the host. This sounds like a Sci-Fi horror movie!
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm
This new knowledge is challenging the way we look at disease.
A lot of research in occurring in the area of the microbiome. New approaches are addressing disease from the angle of strengthening the body with diet and lifestyle and the use of herbal antimicrobials, essential oils and homeopathy. It appears that natural antimicrobials do not have the devastating effects that antibiotic drugs seem to have, although it is still helpful to support your system with probiotics.
Action Steps:
What Can You Do to Nurture Your Inner Garden of Life?
- Only use antibiotics when natural methods aren't enough.
- Use natural products that are compatible with your health and that of the environment.
- Remove antibiotics and chemicals from your food supply.
- Reduce sugar and high glycemic foods, processed foods and rancid fats that feed your unhealthy microbes. Cravings can be a clue as to what you have cultivated in your gut and a warning sign that changes are needed. Think of cravings as your microbes calling out for food. Which ones do you choose to feed?
- Address allergies and food sensitivities. Foods you are allergic to compromise the garden environment.
- Manage stress--stress can have damaging effects on your healthy gut microbes, too.
- Get support to insure your success
- Learn more...
Understanding your microbiome is vitally important for people suffering from chronic diseases such as autoimmune, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders, etc. The microbiome plays a critical role in the health of your entire body.
Has this piqued your interest?
Has this piqued your interest?
If you would like to learn more, I invite you to join me for
The Microbiome Medicine Summit, February 29 – March 7.
The Microbiome Medicine Summit, February 29 – March 7.
This summit will provide education about the importance of leveraging the “good” bacteria in your body to develop a natural immunity to your most challenging health issues.
Register Now--its FREE!
The Microbiome Medicine Summit will teach you about:
I hope you will join me!
Lots of Love,
Karen
- Strengthening your immune system
- Reducing inflammation
- Impacting genetic expression
- Improving metabolism
- Controlling caloric absorption
- Guiding your brain
- And more!
I hope you will join me!
Lots of Love,
Karen
In my last two newsletters I talked about the importance of healthy fats in your diet--even for weight loss. Dr. Hyman from the Cleveland Clinic has created a powerful Q&A Video that covers the top questions he gets about fat, and simple strategies you can implement TODAY to look and feel your best in no time. So if this is something that you are interested in, you can watch the FREE video right here:
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